Artist: Janet Laura Scott (?)
Title: William Penn, Pilgrims, and Columbus
Date: c. 1910-1911
Medium: 3-panel oil on canvas
These lunettes at Tilton Elementary were designed to fit spaces above the doorways of the auditorium (designed by Prairie School architect Dwight L. Perkins). Each panel depicts key figures and moments in early American history. Like many other Progressive-Era murals, the panels stress the peaceful interaction of white settlers and explorers with Native Americans. Christopher Columbus and other European explorers, for instance, are shown with Native-American guides in the panel, Columbus.
In the panel William Penn (left), Quaker colonist William Penn meets with the chief of an Indian tribe in what is thought to be an illustration of the 1748 Penn Treaty. Penn extends his hand toward the Native Americans while one of his colleagues offers a gift of European cloth. The English Quaker leader who founded the American Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was an advocate of religious freedom. He is known for his fair treatment of Native Americans in land agreements. The Penn Treaty, for example, has been singled out as one of the most amicable negotiations between European settlers and Native-American people. (Pilgrim panel not shown.)
Related work in the Art Institute:
Walter Ellison, Train Station
English colonists migrated to North America in the 17th century to escape religious persecution and lead more prosperous lives. This painting by Walter Ellison depicts African Americans migrating during the 1930s from the American South to cities in the North to escape prejudice and poverty.
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